


You Can't Hold On To Water

by mariposaroja



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Finn is just a normal guy, Gen, M/M, Poe the merman, and works in an aquarium, mermaid au, owned by george lucas, see where i'm going with this..., who has really bad (good?) luck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 17:17:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6385291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariposaroja/pseuds/mariposaroja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of all the things that Finn expected to potentially encountered on a <i>normal</i> day in his <i>normal</i> job at the local aquarium, this was not amongst them... </p><p> </p><p>  <i>The mer<strike>maid</strike>man smiled, actually smiled as if this was the most natural thing in the world. “Hi.”</i></p><p> </p><p>Hi, he says. HI. <i>“Nope,” Finn almost babbled, pretty sure he sounded insane but given the current circumstances… “Nope, this is not happening. No. Just. No.”</i></p><p> </p><p>  <i>“Are you alright there?”</i></p><p> </p><p>  <i>Almost collapsing on the spot, Finn’s jaw dropped dramatically open. Was this thing for real? It was actually asking him if he was alright! “Not really...”</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can't Hold On To Water

**Author's Note:**

> This has been AGES in the making! I had about 93% of it written but the ending was killing me but I knew I had to sit down and write it today. It also ended up being like 6000 words longer than I expected but oh well...  
> This fic is based on [this art work](http://finndaymeron.tumblr.com/post/139507258782/i-couldnt-decide-who-to-make-a-mermaid-so-i-did-3/) which I absolutely adore. The minute I saw it I knew I had to write this fic! Thanks to the artist for inspiring me! ♥  
> Hope you enjoy!

Finn loves his job at the aquarium. Well, Finn _loved_ his job at the aquarium. The pay was good, the people were great (for the most part) and the fish, well the fish were nothing short of incredible. Generally, when he told people that he worked at the biggest aquarium in Florida they assumed that he had a really cool job, like training the dolphins or feeding the sharks. In reality, it wasn’t so glamorous… he had the very responsible and important job of manning the front desk.

He loved to see the way people’s faces fell when he revealed that because, really, they didn’t know anything. Because nothing could beat seeing the look of pure excitement on the little kids’ faces as they queued up, high on sugar and life, waiting to get in to see all the magical fish. Nothing could beat the awe-struck expressions as they exited once again, clutching their seahorse and tortoise plush toys from the gift shop. The aquarium never failed to make people happy and, really, there was nothing more rewarding that being a part of something like that.

Yes, Finn loved his job… until something went very wrong one day.

It’s almost laughable now that he thinks back on it, the innocence of his actions and how they turned out. Because, really, there was nothing more innocent than going in search of some more jellyfish lollipops at the request of his best friend, Rey, who was currently up to her eyeballs in six year olds who were on a school outing. In all his enthusiasm, he had forgotten to ask where they actually kept the supplies for the gift shop.

So that was how he found himself wandering seemingly aimlessly around the basement of his work place, cursing Rey’s name when he saw the mess that was the storage room when he turned on the light. Boxes stacked eight foot high littered the place, making him groan dramatically at the thought of searching for what he was looking for.

Something, however, stood out amongst all the brown cardboard: a tank. This was no goldfish tank, it was almost twice as tall as he, must have contained hundreds of litres of water. But it was covered, almost haphazardly with a tarpaulin. Stopping in his search for the confectionary, Finn inched closer to the tank. He’d heard that the aquarium was to become the proud guardian of a new species of shark found somewhere off the coast of Haiti but hadn’t known that it had already arrived.

It was pretty obvious that he should have returned to the task at hand, that Rey needed those lollipops so she wouldn’t completely lose her mind, but his curiosity got the better of him. It wouldn’t take too long, right? All he had to do was take a peak and he would be satisfied, he could go back to work and move on with his day.

It was… innocent. Right?

Smile tugging at the corners of his mouth Finn, reached for the wax cover, slowly so as not to startle the creature that occupied the tank. Before his hand even touched it, he jumped a couple of feet backwards, letting out a scream as a pair of eyes appeared in the already exposed corner of the glass case.

But these weren’t any pair of eyes… These were brown eyes.

These were _human_ eyes.

“Oh my god. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.” Before he knew what was happening, Finn was flat on his ass, tripping over something that he couldn’t bring himself to care enough to inspect (really, not the time). It didn’t matter, his bulging eyes didn’t leave the tank for a moment. It must have been a dream, it had to be, because it wasn’t just eyes… it was a face. A _face_.

He must have been crazy but the face, the male(?) face seemed to be smiling? Maybe he’d been working too much lately and lost the plot? Maybe he needed to cash in his vacation days and go for a well needed stay in the local mental institute? Maybe it was all just a dream?

It had to be a dream- that was the only explanation for it. Because if there really was a person inside that tank they would be dead by now, right? How long exactly had they been in there? And how were they keeping their eyes open, staring him (still on his backside) down?

As if the… person could read his mind, a hand suddenly appeared where the face had been, palm placed flat against the glass. And if that, coupled with the wistful look on the man’s face, wasn’t enough to prompt Finn, shocked as he was, to get to his feet once again, inching at a snail’s pace towards the tank. His instincts told him he should be moving swiftly in the other direction- that this was a disaster waiting to happen. He didn’t know exactly what type of enterprise George Lucas was running under the guise of an aquarium but he sure didn’t want to be a part of it.

So why didn’t he just get out of there? Run and pretend none of this ever happened? The answer seemed to be because was an idiot, that’s why.

Brown eyes now locked with brown, Finn came within touching distance of the tank, hand extending cautiously, ready to be drawn back at a second’s notice, until it touched the cool glass. Heart pounding, his palm covered the other man’s, his fingers only the tiniest bit longer. No, this couldn’t be real. Because the man was unblinking, still breathing easily, watching him with something along the lines of amusement on his handsome face. And yet it felt real, so real that Finn reached with his other hand for the tarpaulin, grip tightening around the corner for a moment before he gathered the courage to actually move it.

It wasn’t until he had exposed some more of the tank that Finn realised that his breath had been held, spluttering almost comically when he was faced with something that he never expected in his wildest dreams. He recoiled automatically, hands shaking worryingly, but didn’t move as far away this time; he was probably too shocked to do so. What he was looking at was no man… _men_ didn’t have long, scaly tails. No, what he was looking at was something completely different… a merman?

The top of the tank was now exposed enough for the… thing to swim to the top, golden tail flicking gracefully below it as it rested it’s very human looking forearms on the edge of the glass. From the waist up it could have passed for human, for a man- looking no different than Finn did when he was shirtless. And his face… well, that was definitely human; pink lips, average nose, black, wet hair plastered to his forehead… And his eyes…

Brushing aforementioned hair back out of said eyes, the mer ~~maid~~ man smiled, actually _smiled_ as if this was the most natural thing in the world. “Hi.”

 _Hi, he says. HI._ “Nope,” Finn almost babbled, pretty sure he sounded insane but given the current circumstances… “Nope, this is not happening. No. Just. No.”

“Are you alright there?”

Almost collapsing on the spot, Finn’s jaw dropped dramatically open. Was this thing for real? It was _actually_ asking _him_ if _he_ was alright! “Not really,” he replied sarcastically, proud that he even managed that since his brain had pretty much turned to jelly, which really didn’t help when he was contemplating his entire existence.

Laughing at that, it rested its chin on top of its folded hands. “You got a name?”

“Huh?”

The merman looks far too amused for someone who… well, is just that. This was Finn’s world, thank you very much. “A name? That’s the word isn’t it? For what people call you. I’m Poe.”

Poe the fucking mer ~~maid~~ man. “Uh, Finn. My name is Finn.”

“Your _name_ is Finn?”

“Yeah,” Finn’s eyes narrowed, hands folding across his chest, “What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, just I have one of those,” _Poe_ smirked, flicking his tail behind him, “we match.”

Pausing for a moment to take this all in, Finn shook his head to himself, backing away once again. “I shouldn’t be back here.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Poe looked disappointed- almost bitterly so- and he can’t exactly blame him; who knew how long the poor thing was being kept in that tank. Finn wondered for a moment how many people were aware of this, that George Lucas or someone along those lines was holding Poe the merman captive in the basement of the aquarium.

Deciding that he was too intrigued to let this one go despite the fact that he _really_ should, Finn lingered, face and posture softening ever so slightly. “What are they planning on doing with you?”

“Don’t know. Probably just keep me in a tank like this so the people can look at me for the rest of my life.”

 _Or worse_ , the aquarium employee thought to himself, only able to imagine what the scientific world would give to get their hands on a mermaid, something that shouldn’t even exist. “Have they been feeding you?”

Wrinkling up his nose, Poe nodded. “Yeah, but it’s not very good. I’m really not fond of sardines.”

“Mermai- _people_ eat fish?”

“We live in the _ocean_ , Finn… what else do you propose we eat, seaweed? Plankton?”

Finn couldn’t deny that he saw the logic in that. “How long have you been here?”

“Don’t know exactly. Maybe a couple of days? I’m bored out of my mind. There isn’t exactly a lot to do…”

Feeling something twist in his stomach, Finn swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. How anyone could justify keeping something like Poe cooped up in a tank that barely had enough room for him to swim was beyond him. How anyone could keep him cooped up in a _tank_ in the first place was beyond him. It was wrong, no matter how he looked at it. But wasn’t that what they were doing to the other fish, the other sea creatures? Was it not the same?

“How did you end up here?”

Now looking a lot more downbeat, Poe looked down at his fin moving softly beneath him in the water. The other man noticed that, without the smile, he looked like a completely different person. It didn’t suit him, not in the least. “Got caught up in a net when I was out with my friends. They tried to save me but that would have meant they would have been caught too so I told them to get as far away from there as possible and… tell my parents that I’m okay. Even though I’ll probably never see them again.”

And right then, Finn’s heart downright broke, shattered into a million pieces. He almost wanted, selfishly, to ask Poe to tell him no more because it was killing him just to listen to that, to know that there was nothing he could do to stop this. Sorry didn’t seem like enough- nowhere near enough- so he didn’t say it.

“Do you have a family?”

“Just my parents. But my friends are like family to me too. Or they were…”

“Where did they take you from?”

“Somewhere south of here. I don’t know the name, just where the water is warm and clear. The people speak a different language.

“Humans can be assholes sometimes,” Finn murmured, though he wasn’t exactly sure why, it obviously wasn’t exactly something that Poe didn’t know already.

Despite himself, Poe arched an eyebrow and chuckled, albeit humourlessly. “Only sometimes? I wouldn’t mind _so_ much if they gave me something to keep me company. Like a turtle or something. I had a clownfish friend back home, called it BB. I hope Jess is taking care of it.”

“Jess your girlfriend? Your cute mermaid girlfriend?”

The question had its intended effect, a smile crept across Poe’s face once again, eyes suddenly a lot less serious, less sad. “She’s cute and she is a mermaid but she’s not my mate.”

“Do you have a mate?”

“No, do you?”

Finn spluttered at that, the question unassuming in itself but the way the merman said it enough to make him blush. He wasn’t sure what Poe was asking for a moment. “No, I have a Rey. Well, a friend. Probably like Jess? Her name is Rey. She works in the gift shop.” Suddenly, he heard a bang that caused him to jump almost a foot into the air and trip over that damn box again. His heart began to thud violently, looking around to see if there was anyone there. _I’m so going to get fired. I’m so going to get fired._ “What was that? Do people come down here often?”

“No, just one or two people a couple of times a day. Mainly when it’s time to give me my _delicious_ food. Or to make sure that I’m still here; as if I would get anywhere with this,” Poe said bitterly, gesturing at his golden tail. “If they weren’t such assholes and keeping me locked up in here I might even look forward to seeing them. It gets pretty lonely and we merpeople are social creatures.”

Another noise came from nowhere in particular, successfully spooking him. Poe looked pretty much unaffected but Finn bit his lip, chewing anxiously as his mind worked overtime. He wanted to stay and talk to Poe, he really did, but something told him that it would be pretty bad for the both of them if he was to be caught. His inner turmoil ended with the logical side of his brain winning out and Finn left out a sigh, shoulders slumping ever so slightly. “I’m sorry, I think I have to go.”

Letting go of the side of the tank, Poe smiled sadly as propelled himself backwards with just a flick of his tail. “It’s okay, I get it. You have no idea how great it was to talk to someone who doesn’t look at me like I’m some kind of experiment, if only for a little while. Thank you, Finn- for listening.”

“I’ll be back,” Finn promised, not missing a beat, “Tomorrow. I’ll be back.”

Blinking, the corners of the merman’s mouth tugged upwards ever so slightly, as if he was afraid to believe that in case he got his hopes up. “You don’t have to-“

“I’ll be here, I promise.”

Sharing one last smile with Poe, Finn covered over the tank once again, making sure to leave a patch on top exposed so he couldn’t go above the surface if he wanted to. It took a lot for Finn to walk away, especially when he reached the stairs and cast a glance back, watching Poe watching him leave. It made him deeply uncomfortable but he had to go, giving him a small smile before turning out the light and marching up the stairs as if nothing had happened at all.

Rey never got her jellyfish lollipops.

 

Finn’s dreams that night were full of colour; the clearest of blues, golden browns, shimmering oranges… So much so that it was exhausting, not relaxing. He felt as if he was submerged in water but he wasn’t drowning, just existing without problem. He saw Poe’s smile, the way it threatened to cut his face in half, the light in his impossibly dark eyes… And suddenly he had no desire to leave. He could have happily existed like that for the rest of his life; the water caressing his skin, the warmth, the… tail that was flicking naturally below him.

Finn started for a moment, the water suddenly his enemy as he attempted to reach the surface but found himself unable to go anywhere. Before he could become too distressed, two hands gripped his wrists and his vision came back into focus as he found himself staring right into Poe’s deep brown eyes, a wave of calm washing over him.

“It’s okay, you’re okay.”

And Finn found himself believing him. He looked down, took a moment to have a proper glance at his tail. It wasn’t like Poe’s; it was blue, the colour of the sky on a cloudless day but shimmered as if the stars were already out. Giving an experimental flick, he bit his lip as it hit Poe’s quite hard, though from the other man’s laughter he quickly deduced that Poe didn’t hold it against him. He moved more carefully this time, experimenting, getting a feel for his new appendage. It felt… nice. Liberating. Suddenly, he felt as if the word was his not-so-metaphorical oyster. He could explore every ocean, swim every see. Go anywhere in the world he wanted to.

It was exhilarating.

And Poe saw that, that much was clear in the bright, encouraging smile on his fellow merman’s face. He released Finn’s arms, giving him a small nod before slowly swimming off in the other direction.

“Wait! Don’t go,” Finn murmured to himself, propelling himself after Poe lest he lose him.

Poe just laughed at that, gesturing for the other man to follow him, surprised but by no means unhappy when Finn grabbed hold of his hand once again. “I want to show you something.”

They cut through the water effortlessly and Finn made it his business to see as much of his surroundings as he possibly could, not wanting to miss a porpoise or a school of fish or piece of coral. The colours were like nothing he’d ever experienced with human eyes; bright pinks, impossibly deep greens, electric blues…

He had thought the aquarium was magical… He was wrong- nothing man made could ever compare to this. Nothing in _his_ world could ever compare to this.

Bitter disappointment engulfed him when he opened his eyes and found himself lying in the darkness of his room, all those colours ripped away so quickly that it almost hurt his eyes, his head. _No. No, no, no._

Poe never got to show him what he wanted- Finn never got to _see_ what Poe wanted him to see.

Shutting his eyes tight as he could, he desperately willed himself to fall back to sleep. He wanted the colours, the warmth of the tropical water, not the dreariness of his apartment. It wasn’t fair, it just… wasn’t fair.

Minutes passed, half hours, and Finn just lay there, wide awake much to his chagrin. It took him a lot longer than was probably necessary to realise that sleep wasn’t going to come, that it was a waste of time. Casting a glance at the wall, where his alarm clock projected the time (4:47 am) in a green glow, Finn sighed, agitated, before throwing the covers off himself.

He wandered aimlessly around, heading in the general direction of the living area/kitchen. Something in the hallway, however, caused him to stop in his tracks. Pausing for a moment, Finn pushed the unlocked door open, wincing at the loudness of the creak in the otherwise tranquillity of his apartment. He turned on the light, something seeming to click in him when he caught sight of the bathtub.

Sure, it was 4:47 in the morning but he’d done stranger things in his lifetime, right? So he just threw caution to the wind, putting in the plug before turning on the hot tap. How hot it would actually be at this hour of the night (morning?) he didn’t exactly know but beggars couldn’t be choosers…

It took a while; Finn just perched on the edge of the bath until the water reached an acceptable level. Once it did, he shrugged off his shirt and boxers before climbing it, wincing- yet strangely relieved all the same- when the tepid water hugged his skin as he slid further and further down. Finn couldn’t remember the last time he used the bath instead of the shower, much less at five o’clock in the morning, but somehow it calmed him, made him feel completely at ease.

Watching his legs, tips of his toes poking out of the water, Finn concentrated hard on them for at least five minutes, just to make sure that a blue tail didn’t suddenly materialise. When he was altogether satisfied that it wouldn’t, he closed his eyes, sleep feeling a lot closer than it had been fifteen minutes ago. Breathing quickly becoming even, steady, Finn began to feel himself slipping into unconsciousness once again. The still rational part of his mind told him that this was a bad idea, that he’d had his fun and he should get out before he drowned, but he quickly quietened that part, head coming to rest against the hard plastic of the bathtub.

This time when he fell asleep he was met by no blue seas, no colourful fish, no _Poe_ but, somehow, that didn’t seem to matter too much.

 

It wasn’t until Finn was just around the corner from the aquarium that he realised that it was Thursday…

He doesn’t work Thursdays.

His only saving grace was the fact that he worked at a recreational facility and it was reasonable that an employee of the aquarium might want to visit purely for entertainment purposes on his day off. At least that’s what he hoped, anyway. Though, given his track record, he was pretty sure no one would suspect that he was having a clandestine meeting with something that was half-man, half-fish.

Turns out he was right; his colleague, Nina, meet him with a smile and a pleasant greeting, casually suggesting that he go see the penguin show and that it was her favourite part. Finn returned the smile and told her that he’d be sure to do just that before moving along with the crowd.

Making sure that no one was watching him, Finn ‘took a wrong turn’ (how plausible that was given that he actually worked in the place he didn’t know) and ended up in the small, and very scarcely used, stairwell to the basement. He took the steps almost two at a time, wanting to get down amongst the boxes so that he’d have somewhere to hide if someone else suddenly appeared. The light was left on so Finn could only assume that meant that whoever came to feed Poe had come and gone for the time being. At least that was what he really hoped.

It must have been the case, seeing as the tank was covered even more thoroughly than he had left it the previous day. He was just about to head in that direction when a thought occurred to him and he backtracked, moving a random box that was within reach in front of the door so he would hear it falling if someone tried to open it. Finn really hoped that wouldn’t be the case but he was confident that it would create enough of a distraction to give him enough time to hide.

Moving closer to the tank, Finn set the bag he had been carrying down on a nearby box, just so that he had both his hands free to pull back the cover. Poe started visibly in the water and Finn couldn’t help but laugh at the look of surprise on his face that quickly turned into a grin as he propelled himself to the top of the tank.

“Finn! You came!” Not bothering to use his hands this time, Poe flicked the wet back out of his eyes with a jerk of his head.

For a moment the aquarium employee wondered what he’d look like completely dry. “Told you I would, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, well people don’t always keep their promises. But I’m so glad you’re here.”

 _Yeah, me too_. Finn just smiled, looking around for a moment before his eyes fell on a ladder that would serve his purpose quite well. It was heavier than it looked but he managed to manoeuvre it over to the edge of the tank, grabbing the bag he had left on the box before climbing up so that he was pretty much level with Poe.

“Whatcha got there?” frowning, Poe jutted his chin in the direction of the bag.

Biting his lip, he blushed just a little. “Well, you said that they don’t feed you well so I picked up something on my way here. Just some cod and some salmon- I don’t even know if merpeople like cod and salmon but I didn’t really have a clue… Oh, and there’s some shrimp in there too. Thought that might have been a safer bet.”

Looking like all of his Christmases have come at once, Poe moved to the very edge of the tank so that he was mere inches away from him. “You are a beautiful man, Finn, you know that?” he grinned, almost licking his lips, “Shrimp is my favourite.”

“Good guess then, huh?” Busying himself with opening the individually packages pieces of seafood, Finn found the shrimp on the second go and tossed one in the merman’s direction. He expected Poe to catch it with his hands, so he was very much surprised when it landed perfectly in his mouth. Wrinkling up his nose ever so slightly when Poe began to chew it, shell and all, Finn couldn’t help but chuckle when he let out a low moan, as if it were the best thing he’d ever tasted in his life.

“Finn, buddy… I owe you one,” Poe practically purred, especially when Finn tossed him another one.

“It’s the least I can do, since I can’t exactly do anything to get you anything out of here…”

“Finn… you don’t have to feel bad. None of this is your fault.” Laying back in the water, Poe flicked his tail up, splashing Finn a little in the process. “Oops… sorry about that.” Finn didn’t care about getting wet, all his attention was now focused on Poe’s tail, gracefully floating on top of the water as he made small circles with his wrist beneath the surface. Noticing his interest, the merman smirked. “You want to touch it?”

“W-what?”

Flicking his fin so that it was propped up by the edge of the tank, Poe chuckled. “My tail, I see the way you look at it. You can touch it if you want, I won’t bite, I promise.”

Sure, it had held a certain interest for him before but after the dream he had had the previous night but now Finn was borderline obsessed, couldn’t get how it felt to have his own (albeit imaginary) tail out of his head. Teeth raking over his bottom lip, Finn contemplated it hard for a moment before nodding softly. “You sure it’s okay?”

“Yeah, go right ahead.”

And so he did, tentatively extending his right hand until his fingertips brushed the scaly limb, hand recoiling almost as quickly as it made contact. “Ugh, it’s slimy.”

Laughing, Poe flicked some water at him again, purposely this time. “My tail is very healthy, I’ll have you know.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologised quickly, mortified, as his cheeks began to turn red, “I didn’t mean-“

“I’m just joking, Finn, chill. I don’t suppose it’s like anything you’ve ever felt before.”

“It’s not. It’s… surreal.”

“I wish you could experience it, you know. You have no idea what you’re missing. But don’t get caught and end up with a tank, that bit isn’t so great.”

Finn did have an idea but he had a feeling it was only a patch on the reality. What he wouldn’t give to be able to realise his dream, to be able to swim amongst the reef with Poe. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

 

Thankfully, that night Finn’s dreams picked up where he had left off the night before. The colours returned (they were brighter than ever) and so did Poe. There was no tangible difference between the Poe he knew and this Poe, so much so that he wouldn’t have been able to tell where reality ended and dream began but for the fact that he was pretty sure that he would drown within a minute or two of being submerged in water like that. And the tail bit, that was a good indicator too…

But other than that, it was like actually living. His hand fit perfectly in Poe’s as the merman pulled him along, eager as ever to show him what he had wanted to show him. Finn’s jaw fell open dramatically when he realised that it was no longer just them, though he wasn’t sure why it surprised him so much.

It was a girl- well, a mermaid he supposed. He didn’t pretend to know anything about merpeople biology but she looked no more than five or six human years old; her tail was significantly shorter than Poe’s was, a deep fern green that seemed to contrast perfectly with the pallor of her skin and the blondness of her hair.

The most surprising thing, however, was how elated she looked at the sight of Poe; swimming up right next to them the minute she laid eyes on her fellow mermen.

“Poe!”

Laughing at the squeal, Poe halted, Finn slowing just in time to avoid a collision, and reached out to ruffle the little girl’s hair though how that worked under the water he didn’t really know….  “Hey kid.”

“Who’s this?”

If Finn didn’t know better he would think she was wagging her eyebrows at him. “This is Finn.”

Her face contorted at that. “Fin? Like a tail?”

“Kinda, I guess,” Finn smiled, laughing along with the other merman. The mermaid gave a giggle too before swimming off in the other direction. He and Poe continued on their way, passing a number of merpeople en route; all of which greeted them enthusiastically. Finn loved every single minute of it, he could have kept swimming forever, probably would have were it not for Poe. The other man slowed until he stopped completely, turning to face Finn, their hands suddenly linked.

“I want you to meet my family, is that okay?” 

Finn wanted to tell him yes, of course he wanted to meet them, but he never got the chance. He was pulled suddenly, cruelly from his dreams as his reality sunk it once again just as harshly as it had the night before. Cursing lowly, Finn’s clenched fists landed a bit too firmly, a bit too intentionally on the mattress as his heart continued to thud. Frustration flooded him once again, but this time it was mingled with something very different. Something that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Something in his stomach clenched and Finn groaned, afraid of what that meant, before rolling over onto his stomach and burying his face in his pillow.

 

He made up his mind almost the minute he laid eyes on Poe when he came to visit the next day.

This time he did actually have work and while that gave him an excuse to be in the building, it also meant that he couldn’t spend as much time with the merman as he had done the previous day. Finn was sure that Poe didn’t suspect anything, hadn’t noticed the change in him. If he did, he certainly didn’t say anything.

More than the previous days combined, Finn felt wracked with guilt. He’d seen enough of Poe’s world to know what the guy was missing out on, what being stuck here truly meant for him- no more colour, no more of his own kind…

No more _family_.

And he couldn’t live the rest of his life knowing that he had the opportunity to do something- to right this- and let it pass.

All he had to do was work out the… logistics of it.

Couldn’t be that hard… right?

 

“Rey… you know how much I love you right?”

Rey froze visibly at that, eyebrow raising as she immediately ceased in her sorting of the amphibian fridge magnets at the counter. “Oh god… what did you do?”

 _Well, it’s not exactly what I’ve_ done _per se… More what I plan to do._ Chewing on his bottom lip, Finn looked around momentarily, careful that there was no one in ear shot. “I… I need your help with something.”

“What kind of something?”

“Just… something. I can’t really go into detail here. What time is your break?”

“12:45… Finn, you’re really starting to worry me.”

Realising that if the tables were turned he’d feel the exact same, Finn casts her the most reassuring smile he can muster. He could only hope that he’d been right in his prediction of how she would react… “Everything’s fine, don’t worry. It will only take a couple of minutes and then you can forget it even happened.” Before she could query that, because she looks like she _really_ wanted to, Finn continues, “Just meet me down in the basement at 12:45, okay? And be discreet about it.”

Eyebrow cocked once again, she continued to eye him warily, looking to find a weakness she could exploit. Unfortunately, she found nothing which made her even more suspicious- usually her best friend was an open book to all. “Fine. You never know, I might actually be able to _get_ some of those jellyfish lollipops that I asked you for the other day.”

_Women never forget._

 

“Finn, buddy,” Poe grinned, all dazzling white teeth, swimming up to the top of his tank to greet his new friend just as he’d gotten used to, “Didn’t know if I would see you today.”

 _You have no idea._ “I can see why you would think that… it’s not like I haven’t been down here every day for the past three days or anything…” he jibbed, moving his ladder back into position with a lot more ease than he had the first day before grabbing his trusty bag of shrimp and climbing up to meet the merman.

“You spoil me, you do know that right?” Poe practically licked his lips as he watched the other man uncover his favourite food, already tasting it in his mouth. Finn tossed two in quick succession at him, knowing the merman seemed to like to show off for him, almost jumping out of the water to catch them in his mouth. He’d soon learned how to avoid the inevitable splash.

“Someone has to.” Looking down at his watch, only fifteen minutes left before Rey would hopefully arrive, Finn felt an odd mixture of excitement and deflation. The thrill of what he was going to do combined with the fear of getting caught made him antsy but the worst part was something he hadn’t even contemplated until now, it hadn’t seemed like an issue…

In under half an hour Poe would (hopefully) be gone. And that was proving a hard pill to swallow. He’d only known him for a couple of days but Poe… Poe was nothing short of amazing. Rather selfishly, he wanted the merman to stay forever; as crazy as it was to have a good friend that was part fish. But Poe didn’t belong there, in his world. He belonged amongst his own kind, with the dolphins and the seahorses and coral… He wanted that for him; he wanted him to be happy, he really did.

Which was why he handed in his written resignation, effectively immediately, into the HR department first thing that morning. If he was going to do this, he couldn’t just waltz back into work on Monday- especially if there was a full blown investigation. Not that Finn wanted to be a part of an organisation like that anymore, if _this_ was what they had going on behind closed doors.

“You look kinda sad… is everything okay?”

It wasn’t until Poe spoke again that he realised he had spaced out. Putting on his best smile once again, Finn nodded, tossing him another shrimp. “Yeah, everything’s great. Never been better, in fact.”

“You sure?” the merman enquired, looking as if he didn’t quite believe him, before chowing down on the crustacean.

“Positive. Just… you’re special, you know that? Really special?”

Corners of his mouth tugging upwards, Poe chuckled. “So they tell me. I _really_ feel so _special_ down here. But I get what you’re saying, thank you. You’re pretty special yourself, Finn. You’re a good man.”

Finn decided to lay off on some of the heavy stuff and just enjoy Poe’s company, as he had been doing for the past couple of days, for just a little while longer. That was until the sound of the steel door that led to the basement opening almost caused the merman to jump a foot out of the water, panic setting in on his handsome face.

Before Finn could even explain what was happening, Poe disappeared under the surface of the water, as if _that_ would help anything if they’d been caught. “Finn?” Nevertheless, a wave of relief washed over him when he heard that it was in fact Rey. Hopping down from the ladder, he made his way towards his best friend, deciding that this was a conversation better had out of view of the supposedly mythical creature…

“Here,” he called back, loud enough so that she could clearly hear but not loud enough that his voice would echo.

Rey soon appeared in front of him, brow furrowed as she looked around her. “This is really weird… What’s so secret that we have to have the discussion in the creepy basement of our workplace?”

“Okay,” he nodded, more to reassure himself than anything, “So I told you I need your help with something? Well, it’s nothing major, just a bit of… _manual handling._ ”

Crossing her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowed. “Manual handling? What’s so covert about moving some boxes?”

“Well, it’s not _exactly_ boxes. But I need you to promise me you’re not going to freak out because I’ve only got a very limited period of time to do this and if I don’t succeed-“

“Okay! I promise. Let’s just do it whatever it is so I can go have my lunch.”

 _So unsuspecting…_ “Okay. Right. Well, just remember what I said, okay? Don’t freak out…”

“Finn, just show me!”

“Follow me…”

Taking her hand (which she usually doesn’t appreciate but she let it slide this time) Finn led her over in the direction of the tank, watching confusion set in as her eyes fell on it. “Uh, Finn? You don’t want us to move the tank, do you?”

He almost laughed at the fact that she was on the right track but not _quite_. “No, what’s _inside_ the tank…” With that, he released her hand, moving close enough to the glass so that he could knock on it, “Poe?”

It took a moment but the merman eventually made his way to the top of the tank once again, obviously trusting Finn enough to do so. Flicking the sopping curls out of his eyes, Poe smiled timidly at the newcomer. “Hi… Finn, what’s going on?”

Rey just stood there with her jaw practically on the floor, eyes looking as if they were going to pop out of her head, and Finn really couldn’t help the soft chuckle that escaped him. “Poe, this is Rey. Remember I told you about her?”

“Oh yeah! Finn’s best buddy.”

“Rey, this is Poe, the merman.”

Pulled from her trance by the stupidity of that statement, Rey glared at him. “I can see that, thank you very much. And I thought you were being over dramatic…”

Allowing her time to digest what was going on, what he was asking of her, Finn ascended the ladder once again, feeling the need to be closer to Poe when he told him what was going to happen.

“Finn…”

“Poe, we’re going to get you out of here.”

It took a moment for his words to sink in but when they did Poe’s face fell and he just looked more forlorn than anything. “Finn, buddy, don’t joke about that.”

“It’s not a joke,” Finn assured him, looking right into his eyes, “I can’t sit back and do nothing, watch you rot away in here for… years. I don’t care if I end up getting arrested, I just… don’t care. I quit my job; I don’t want to work in a place like this anymore and I am _not_ leaving you here. That’s why I brought Rey with me, she’s going to help.”

A single drop ran down Poe’s cheek as he took that all in and it didn’t come from his hair. “Really?”

“Really,” Rey answered for him and Finn instantly felt a weight lift off his chest. She was with him, they were really going to do this.

Laughing in disbelief, another tear fell from the merman’s lashes and before Finn knew what was happening, Poe launched himself at him, hands grabbing his new friend’s neck as he crushed their lips together. “Thank you,” he almost sobbed, “Thank you so much. You didn’t have to do this-“

“You’re wrong, I did,” Finn was surprised he even managed to get that out, the shock of Poe _kissing_ him almost disorientating him completely, “That’s why I’m doing this. You get to go back to where you came from, to your family. But you better tell Jess and BB that I said hi, okay?” he smiled but his own eyes were beginning to sting, though it was almost certainly a different type of tears to the ones that made Poe’s eyes glisten.

Poe kissed him once again, though it didn’t shock him so much the second time around and it definitely didn’t shock him as much as being kissed by a _merman_ probably should… “Are you kidding? I’m going to tell them all about you! Everyone! They’ll probably send me back here they’ll be so sick of hearing about you. So how are we going to do this?”

Hopping down once again, he made the short trip to get what he was looking for, rolling it close to the tank. “This. We’re going to put you in here and then I’m going to run for my life. The pier is just around the corner… will that do?”

“The pier is _perfect_ , Finn. God, I can’t believe this is happening!”

“Neither can I,” Rey laughed, now looking a lot more comfortable with the situation. She inched closer to the glass, eyeing the merman’s golden tail in wonderment. “You’re kinda magnificent.”

A blush crept across Poe’s cheeks. “Thanks, you’re not so bad yourself. How is this going to work? Logistically?”

Yeah… he hadn’t exactly thought that bit out so much. Chewing on his lip, Finn looked between the tank and the large plastic container that conveniently happened to be on wheels. _Hmm…_ “Okay, I think I have an idea….”

 

“Ooh- agh- _ow_.”

“Quit your complaining, Rey. You said you were in.”

Looking up over the armful of mermaid tail that she had, all wet and slimy, Rey glared at her friend. “You just slapped me in the face with his _fin_.”

“I’m standing at the top of a not-so-steady ladder holding two hundred pounds of merman, give me a break.”

Poe wasn’t exactly familiar with that unit of measurement but he knew from the way Finn had said it that he should take offence. “Hey! It’s all in the tail, okay. The rest of me is all muscle.”

“Just slowly back down the steps, Rey. But also quickly? Because we really need to get out of here.”

 _Great_. “Right. Slowly _and_ quickly, coming right up.”

Just a couple more steps and… There. They had made it, though Finn really wasn’t sure how, onto the ground without falling like skittles down the steps. Which was a major achievement, regardless of what happened next, in his book. “Okay, so now we just have to put him in the container. Lift his fin up so it doesn’t get caught beneath him.”

“Buddy, you could throw me in face first at this stage and I really wouldn’t care.”

“It’s okay… There! We got it!”

Smile threatening to cut her face in half, Rey panted just a little, holding up her hand to high-five her best friend. “We got it. Now go get him back into the ocean because if all of this was for nothing then I’m going to kill you myself, okay?”

Chuckling at the familiarity of that, Poe shuffled slightly, trying to fold himself up as compactly as possible. “Wow, you’d really get along great with my friend Jess.”

“I bet she’s a great person,” she chuckled, giving him a little wink.

“Poe? You ready to do this?” Finn asked, giving the container a little push to make sure it wasn’t too heavy to move quickly. Thankfully it wasn’t.

“I’m so ready to do this. Let’s go.”

Moving away from the tank, Rey made in the direction of the door so she could keep watch and make sure no-one came down until Finn and Poe were long gone. “Good luck. I hope everything works out for you.”

“Thanks Rey, for everything.”

Chuckling, she shook her head. “My pleasure. Just, please, don’t get caught again. Because I really don’t want you to end up in one of those things for the rest of your life.”

You didn’t have to tell him twice. “Don’t worry, I’ll be carrying a knife on me from now on.”

“Good to hear. Now go, be free.”

Heart hurting just a little bit, Finn smiled nonetheless, adrenaline coursing through his veins. “Please keep all arms and fins inside the vehicle…”

 

The journey down to the pier was uneventful. Finn kept a steady pace as he rolled the container down the street (a lid now covering the top of it, of course), looking around like a criminal in pursuit when he heard something that was, to him, out of the ordinary. He remained ready to break into a sprint at any moment, but by the time he reached the waterside he was fairly certain that there was no one coming for him, for _them_.

By the time he was on the pier (he’d chosen one that was a little out of the way to avoid having crowds of people present as he tossed a merman into the ocean…), Finn realised that there was no delicate way to do this. That he would literally have to tip the thing over so that Poe would fall into the water. He told Poe as much, warned him to be prepared, and funnily enough he didn’t mind…

Finn almost didn’t want to do it. Not because he didn’t want Poe to be free- he really did- but because these would be the final few moments he ever spent with him and that fact was proving hard to digest. Eventually, he could wait no longer, risking someone seeing him and he just did it. Poe fell from the pier and hit the water with a loud splash but it was done, there was nothing standing between him and his freedom anymore.

As soon as the merman was safely in the water, Finn replaced the lid on the container so it looked unassuming, like it just happened to be there and he had no hand whatsoever in its placement.

“This is it…” Finn smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes, and crouched down to sit with his legs dangling off the edge of the pier.

Eyes wide with disbelief, Poe shook his head to himself, unable to keep from chuckling like a maniac. “We did it!”

“We did it.”

“Thank you so much, Finn. I owe you so much for saving me. If it weren’t for you I’d be stuck in that place for the rest of my life. Now I…” tears began to sting his eyes and he shook his head, almost as if to expel them, “I can go home. To my family.”

“Like I said, it was the right thing to do. And I’d do it again if I had to, a million times over.” The merman bit his lip and Finn could see the conflict in his big brown eyes. He knew what he had to do. “Go, Poe. Go back to your family. It’s okay.”

Poe returned the soft smile but didn’t look any more at ease. “I… Sorry, it’s just… hard to leave.”

 _I know exactly what you mean._ “Well if you don’t leave you’ll end up right back where you were so that’s not advisable,” Finn chuckled, trying his best to lighten the mood. It had the desired effect; Poe smiled once again, the sadness turning to… something else. Hope maybe.

“I’ll never forget you, Finn.”

“I’ll never forget you either. And you better tell BB and Jess about me, just like you told me about them. I’ll know if you don’t, trust me.”

“I’ll be sure to do that. So this is it?”

“Yeah, buddy,” Finn’s heart ached just a little bit at his use of the merman’s word, “it is.”

Hesitating for a moment, Poe eventually nodded, the motion creating little ripples in the water. “Goodbye, Finn. Sorry about your job…”

“I’ll find another one, don’t worry. Goodbye, Poe.”

One more lip bite…. And he was gone. The last memory Finn had of him was his golden tail rising above the surface of the water, like a painting, before he disappeared completely. But one thing he knew for sure: Poe would never disappear from his memory.

Or his heart.


End file.
